While burnout and personal issues were prominent factors behind Georges St-Pierre relinquishing his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title, the popular ex-champion says his disappointment over the promotion’s drug-testing policy also played a major role.

St-Pierre had hinted at displeasure towards the promotion in recent weeks, talking cryptically in December about wanting “to do things to be remembered, to make a difference in the sport, to make the sport reach another level … I tried my best. I tried to do everything possible,” he said when he announced his departure.

St-Pierre on Tuesday explicitly said that what he perceives as a lack of strenuous drug testing, and lack of support by the promotion for changes he hopes to see, were factors that led to him taking a leave of absence from UFC.

“It bothered me enormously. It was one the reasons I stopped,” said St-Pierre, appearing in Montreal to announce that the Georges St-Pierre Foundation was providing a $45,000-sponsorship to the Quebec Foundation for Athletic Excellence.

His decision to leave wasn’t to teach UFC a lesson, St-Pierre said, because that would punish himself, too. He insists he just wanted to do something for the sport of mixed martial arts.

“I love the sport. I see the direction it’s going, and I think it’s crazy. This is stupid,” said St-Pierre.

In the lead-up to the UFC 167 main event between St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks, St-Pierre said he was willing to be tested randomly for performance-enhancing drugs by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), and would even pay for the testing of Hendricks. The challenger, however, insisted testing be done by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), saying WADA testing was more stringent.

Unable to agree on the extra out-of-competition testing, the two fighters were instead tested only by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Both passed all tests.

White, in a Google Hangout, said the back-and-forth made both fighters “look stupid,” noting that both would be tested by the Nevada commission.

Immediately after his razor-thin split decision victory, St-Pierre said he needed to take time away from the sport. He clarified those comments in the ensuing weeks, saying the pressure of being on top of the sport for the better part of eight years, plus personal issues he felt he needs to address, led to him vacating his title.

On Tuesday, St-Pierre — so often tightlipped during media tours — opened up on the drug-testing issue, saying he was willing to take a lie-detector test to disprove any allegations that he’s used performance enhancing drugs.

“I think this is a big problem in the sport,” said St-Pierre, adding that he wouldn’t name names but that from being in and around the game for so long, he was well aware of who does what.

St-Pierre said he wanted to bring the sport he loves to “another level” of testing and help those who are honest in the sport.

“I tried to change things, and unfortunately, maybe for money reasons, maybe for image, they were not ready to do that,” St-Pierre said. “I tried to (bring about) change in a very diplomatic way and it didn’t work so it’s unfortunate, but I believe it will happen sooner or later.”

UFC president Dana White, through a company spokesman, declined comment on Tuesday.

St-Pierre reiterated on Tuesday that he has no timetable for when — or even if — he wants to return to the fight game. He’s still training regularly and remains in excellent shape. For now, though, he’s enjoying not worrying about his next title defence or being called out by a host of challengers wanting what he had for so long.

“I just had my first Christmas and New Year with family without thinking of training because I had some guy who wanted to beat me up in the future,” said the 32-year-old during a weekend appearance in Edmonton.

“I was very happy with that. I am not putting any pressure on myself right now. I needed to have a vacation and relax.”